Ava's Poppy by Marcus Pfister

Ava's Poppy was published in 2012 but it is a new discovery for me - that is why I LOVE libraries. This is a simple story about a little girl who finds and loves a beautiful red poppy flower. She cares for it tenderly and carefully. Sadly, the flower does eventually die. But do not despair because the power of nature means that spring comes again and a new flower emerges. Make sure you take time to compare the front and back end papers. 

Bookseller blurb: Ava is delighted when she discovers a brilliant red poppy in the middle of her yard.

She sits with the little flower in the sunny days of summer and shields it from the rain, until one day the petals start to drop and the tiny flower fades away. But when spring comes again... Ava is surprised anew.

Though this could be a sad story, the author finds a way to end the tale on a high note that is full of hope. Through the Looking Glass

The art in this book really stands out. It is quite different from other books by the well-known illustrator Marcus Pfister (Rainbow Fish). The original title is Lisas Mohnblume.

Here is part of the Publisher's Weekly book review of Ava's Poppy:

"Employing a gentle tone, Pfister encapsulates the circle of life in this sweetly simple story about a girl’s fondness for a flower. When ginger-haired Ava spies a bright red poppy in the field near her home one summer day, she recognizes it as both a thing of beauty and a new friend. Weeks pass, and faithful Ava “looked after her friend with tender loving care,” protecting it from the wind, shielding it from rain, and watering it. The flower eventually turns brown and withers, and Ava marks the sad occasion by burying the plant and arranging a ring of memorial stones in the poppy’s special spot. The subsequent spring brings with it a welcome new friend where the old one used to be, as readers will likely guess."

If you want to read a different perspective on this book take a look at the Kirkus review.

Marcus Pfister was born in Bern, Switzerland. After studying at the Art School of Bern, he apprenticed as a graphic designer and worked in an advertising agency before becoming self-employed in 1984. His debut picture book, The Sleepy Owl, was published by North South in 1986, but his big breakthrough came 6 years later with The Rainbow Fish. Marcus illustrated over 50 books, which have been translated into more than 50 languages and received countless international awards.

Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman

AMIR: The garden’s green was as soothing to the eye as the deep blue of that rug. I’m aware of color—I manage a fabric store. But the garden’s greatest benefit, I feel, 

was not relief to the eyes, but to make the eyes see our neighbors.

This book is such an interesting discovery. It is a book for Young Adult readers but I am sure adults will enjoy the way this book is written as a jigsaw puzzle where we meet a diversity of characters all linked through their connection with a community garden. (In the UK this might be called an allotment). Seedfolks was published in 1997 - I read an ebook version. The good news is the paperback [9780064472074] from 1999 seems to be available to order from your favourite independent book seller.

Publisher blurb: A Vietnamese girl plants six lima beans in a Cleveland vacant lot. Looking down on the immigrant-filled neighborhood, a Romanian woman watches suspiciously. A school janitor gets involved, then a Guatemalan family. Then muscle-bound Curtis, trying to win back Lateesha. Pregnant Maricela. Amir from India. A sense of community sprouts and spreads. 

Characters

• Kim: A Vietnamese girl mourning her father, who plants beans to connect with him.
• Ana: An elderly Romanian woman who initially distrusts Kim but later helps tend the garden.
• Wendell: A school janitor who supports Kim and contributes to the garden.
• Gonzalo: A young Guatemalan boy who feels responsible for his uncle and finds purpose in gardening.
• Curtis: A muscle-bound man trying to win back his ex-girlfriend through gardening.
• Leona: A passionate woman who fights to clean the lot and grows goldenrod, believing it has healing properties.
• Maricela: A pregnant teen who learns to care for plants and finds hope for her future.
• Amir: An Indian immigrant who grows eggplant, sharing his heritage with others in the community.
• Tío Juan: Gonzalo’s uncle, a farmer who finds joy in sharing his knowledge with children.
• Sae Young: A Korean woman who finds solace among neighbors as she tends to the garden.

Here is the Kirkus review. There is a link to book club questions on the publisher web page. Wikipedia have more plot details. 

Listen to a discussion about his book with All Things Considered.

Quick facts (Source Audible blog)

• Seedfolks features 13 distinct narrators, each telling their own chapter of the story.
• Despite its large and diverse cast of characters, the book is only 80 pages long.
• The story is set in Cleveland, Ohio, and spans one year, from the planting of the first seeds to the following spring.
• Seedfolks was named an ALA Best Book for Young Adults in 1998 and won the Buckeye Children's Book Award for ages six to eight in 1999.
• Seedfolks has been adapted into a play and performed on Broadway.
• The audiobook version features 13 different voice actors to represent each character.

Here are a few text quotes:

KIM: All his life in Vietnam my father had been a farmer. Here our apartment house had no yard. But in that vacant lot he would see me. He would watch my beans break ground and spread, and would notice with pleasure their pods growing plump. He would see my patience and my hard work. I would show him that I could raise plants, as he had. I would show him that I was his daughter.

WENDELL: There’s plenty about my life I can’t change. Can’t bring the dead back to life on this earth. Can’t make the world loving and kind. Can’t change myself into a millionaire. But a patch of ground in this trashy lot—I can change that. Can change it big. Better to put my time into that than moaning about the other all day. That little grammar-school girl showed me that.

LEONA: There were probably lots of folks who’d want to grow something, just like me. Then I studied all the trash on the ground. Don’t know why anyone called that lot “vacant.” The garbage was piled high as your waist, some of it from the neighborhood and some dropped off by outside people. The ones who don’t want to pay at the dump, or got dangerous chemicals, or think we’re such slobs down here we won’t mind another load of junk. ...  The gardeners had made some trails through it. But I knew precious few would join ’em until that mess was hauled away.

NORA: That small circle of earth became a second home to both of us. Gardening boring? Never! It has suspense, tragedy, startling developments—a soap opera growing out of the ground. I’d forgotten that tremolo of expectation produced by a tiny forest of sprouts. What a marvelous sight it was to behold Mr. Myles’ furrowed black face inspecting his smooth-skinned young, just arrived in the world he’d shortly leave. His eyes gained back some of their life. He weeded and watered with great concentration.

Paul Fleischman grew up in Santa Monica, California. The son of well-known children's novelist Sid Fleischman, Paul was in the unique position of having his famous father's books read out loud to him by the author as they were being written. This experience continued throughout his childhood. Paul followed in his father's footsteps as an author of books for young readers, and in 1982 he released the book "Graven Images", which was awarded a Newbery Honor citation. In 1988, Paul Fleischman came out with "Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices", an unusually unique collection of poetry from the perspective of insects. This book was awarded the 1989 John Newbery Medal. Factoring in Sid Fleischman's win of the John Newbery Medal in 1987 for his book "The Whipping Boy", Paul and Sid Fleischman became to this day the only father and son authors to both win the John Newbery Medal.

A Night Divided by Jennifer A Nielsen

"The fence began to be replaced with a concrete wall that was taller, thicker and stronger. Sharp edges of broken glass were cemented into the top to prevent anyone from climbing over it, and watchtowers were built so fewer officers could guard larger areas. With one stacked block of concrete over another our prison slowly became a fortress. And all we did was watch it happen."

On the night the Berlin wall divides the city Gerta's father and one of her brothers has travelled to the west. Now they are a family divided with Gerta's mother and oldest brother Fritz on one side and her father and middle brother Dominic on the other side. Over the coming months life on the eastern side becomes harder and no one can leave - if they are caught, they are jailed or worse executed. Gerta hears that the brother of her best friend has a plan to leave but the next day they learn he has died. Gerta knows any attempt to reunite her family will be extremely dangerous. But then she sees her father across the wall, and he seems to be sending her a message about digging. Mysteriously Gerta receives a drawing which has perhaps come from her father. It is a building and when she finds it, she discovers there might be a way to dig a tunnel to the other side. 

"It was just a pencil drawing of an old building. Square and made entirely of brick, there were two long windows in the front, but with no glass in them except for jagged pieces in the corners. An old chimney ran up the side of the building ... There were three ground-level window openings too, but no door."

Here are a couple more text quotes:

"I wanted books that weren't censored. I wanted to see places that were now only pictures in smuggled magazines that had passed through many hands. ... I wanted a home without hidden microphones, and friends and neighbors I could talk to without wondering if they would report me to the secret police. And I wanted control over my own life ... "

"We've lied to the state and to the police and to nearly everyone we've spoken to in the last month. You said yourself that isn't wrong, not for this tunnel ... right now we are sitting directly below the Death Strip! What does a stolen shovel matter at this point."

Every page of this book will have you holding your breath. It seems impossible that Gerta and her brother can possibly do this and not be found. Adding to the tension their mother has had to leave to visit their grandmother, and their food is running out and their nosy neighbour is certain to inform on them to the Stasi. Ms Yingling gives a detailed plot summary in her blog post. 

Bookseller blurb: With the rise of the Berlin Wall, Gerta finds her family suddenly divided. She, her mother, and her brother Fritz live on the eastern side, controlled by the Soviets. Her father and middle brother, who had gone west in search of work, cannot return home. Gerta knows it is dangerous to watch the wall, yet she can't help herself. She sees the East German soldiers with their guns trained on their own citizens; she, her family, her neighbors and friends are prisoners in their own city. But one day on her way to school, Gerta spots her father on a viewing platform on the western side, pantomiming a peculiar dance. Gerta concludes that her father wants her and Fritz to tunnel beneath the wall, out of East Berlin. However, if they are caught, the consequences will be deadly. No one can be trusted. Will Gerta and her family find their way to freedom?

I picked up this book which was published in 2015 for just AUS$4 from a recent charity book sale - it is in hardcover copy with an intact dust jacket. I really enjoyed A Night Divided but the Kirkus review is not so positive:

Based on historical fact, the story shines a personal light on the many families who were separated by the division of the two cities. Nielsen convincingly paints a chilling picture of repressive, Communist-controlled East Berlin, so much so that when Greta sees her father on the other side of the wall, years later, pantomiming digging, readers easily accept her plan to dig an escape tunnel into West Berlin. Kirkus

This is a wonderfully written story about life behind the Berlin Wall. Middle school audiences will devour this fast-paced thriller about a horrific time in German history. Historical Novel Society

You can see other books by Jennifer A Nielsen here. 

This book is the perfect follow on from these:

The Wall between us

The Great escape

Escape

Willow Bright's Secret Plot by AL Tait

Mum has died. This happened when Willow was only five years old so for many years it has just been Willow and her dad and their life together in rural Australia but now things have changed, and Willow has been sent to live with her Aunt Cressida and her cousin Fleur. The property where her father worked has been sold and dad is working far away hoping to save enough money so he and Willow can be reunited. 

Willow finds city life hectic and confusing. She is really struggling to fit in, and Aunt Cressida seems to have so many rules. Even worse though, her cousin Fleur is simply horrible. AL Tait describes Fleur's behaviour so well that on page 10, I just had to stop reading and take a break from this book. I do not react well to unkindness.

Back to the story. In the opening scene, there is a carnival or fete at the school. One of the attractions is the petting zoo. While Willow is standing in the line for fairy floss, a young calf escapes from the small 'zoo' enclosure. Willow is a farm girl. She knows this calf is frightened and also it is clear he is heading towards some small children playing in sand pit. Willow springs into action, she grabs a rope and lassos that renegade calf. Surely, she is hero - she saved the day - but this is not the reaction of the people in the crowd. I gasped! Reading aloud the first chapter of Willow Bright's Secret Plot could be a great way to book talk this title with your upper primary library group. You can hear AL Tait (Allison Tait) reading her chapter here.

The runaway calf could be an isolated incident, but other strange things have been happening at school. And some other things are going on in this community. One thing Willow really needs is to find a quiet place with trees and nature. Taking an early morning walk each day she discovers an overgrown plot of land. The house appears to be empty. Willow makes a plan to visit this special place every morning. She thinks she could even begin to tame this wilderness but then she meets the old man who does live in the house. He does not know this, but he might be able to help with her plan to run away back to her former home because he will pay her to restore his garden. Willow is well on track to implement her plan when unexpectedly she makes new friends, and she finds a way to navigate the changes in her life. 

There is a scene in this book that I think will linger with me - Willow tries to talk to her new friend (from page 114 onwards). Cos (short for Cosette) has already decided Willow believes Martin, Cos's brother, is guilty of the petty crimes around the neighborhood. Willow tries desperately to explain why she is visiting but she is extra nervous because her aunt has forbidden her from visiting this house. It is all so complicated. All Willow wants is to invite her new friend to help with the garden but Cos just closes the door and storms off.

The awkwardness of making friends and growing up, and learning to speak about your feelings or acknowledge them, and about finding out that people do care, and sometimes, it might take us, and everyone around us, time to understand. Because nobody can adapt to changes automatically when it comes down to it. And this book shows that sometimes, working out what to say and how to say it can be the hardest thing to do. The Book Muse

In some ways the transformation of the garden reminded me of the classic book (a firm favourite of mine) The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. The restoring of the garden leads to a healing of Willow and also of the garden owner Mr Belrose. I also like the double meaning you can interpret from the title and the words 'secret plot'. 

Here is a description of Mr Belrose:

"The man was older than his strength and voice suggested ...This man had wiry, white eyebrows that were almost as wild as what was left of his hair, and he was wearing a wrongly buttoned, checked pyjama shirt atop navy trousers and his boots. But he had the kind of warm, brown skin that suggested hours spent outdoors ... and the way the deep wrinkles fanned out around his blue eyes suggested he spent more time smiling than frowning."

And here is a description of why Willow enjoys her early morning solitude:

"The early morning had always been Willow's favourite time of the day. At Jack's Creek, it was the only time cool enough to walk anywhere, and it was then that Willow would stroll across the verdant grass square that surrounded the homestead, past the point where the sprinklers kept it green, and out into the wild, dusty expanse beyond."

Did you notice the word 'verdant'? I am always happy when authors use rich language in a story. 

Bookseller blurb: ‘I feel her in the breeze that makes the dahlias bob, and in the scent of the roses …’ After moving to the city from the country, Willow Bright feels like she’s lost her mum all over again―and landed on another planet. Her clothes are wrong, her taste in music is wrong, and even the food she eats is wrong. But when Willow spots a pattern in a series of puzzling accidents and mishaps, she forms an unlikely friendship―and finds new purpose. Can Willow solve the mystery and find room to be herself along the way? Or will her plot to run home to the wide-open spaces and memories of her mum land Willow in even more trouble? 

The town planning/corruption layer of Willow Bright's Secret plot made me think about a very old Australian classic book - The Battle of the Galah Trees by Christobel Mattingley (1973).   

Companion books:

Huda was here

Out of the Wild Night

The Secret library of Hummingbird House

Cicada Summer

A good day for climbing trees

The Peach Thief by Linda Joan Smith

This was no place for a girl. And the longer she was here? 

The sooner they’d see that’s exactly what she was

Knowing I was travelling for over five hours on public transport yesterday I decided to add a few more books to my Kindle library. I started and ended the day reading the whole of The Peach Thief (384 pages) - such an engrossing story although at times the anticipation that something utterly dreadful was sure to happen to young Scilla Brown meant that regular intervals I had to 'close' my book and take a huge breath.

Scilla is an orphan living in the workhouse where food is scarce and the punishments are severe. She has one good friend - a girl named Emily but she has been taken away to work in a factory or in service. Then Scilla herself is taken by an older girl named Dora. Dora is a little bit like Fagan from Oliver Twist. She needs Scilla to assist her with petty crimes like shoplifting. Dora steals some rancid meat from a market stall and Scilla finds her dead under the bridge where they were sheltering through the night. Long ago Scilla tasted a peach. The beautiful sensation has never left her. She knows there are peaches in the manor house garden behind the high wall. 

She’d risk anything to taste a peach again, so ripe, so delicious— fit for a queen! And here was her chance, before her life spiraled back to the workhouse, her only choice now

Driven by hunger and her desire to find the fruit of her dreams, late at night she climbs over the wall but her feet are caught in an espaliered cherry tree and she falls to the ground and is caught.

Dora has dressed Scilla in boy's clothes and cut her hair short, so the head gardener Mr. Layton thinks she is a boy. She tells him her name is Seth Brown. Scilla is sure she will be sent straight to jail but someone she manages to convince Mr Layton that she can scrub the garden pots.  

She kept her voice low to match her boys’ cap and clothes, her shorn hair. A boy could blend in, get out of scrapes a girl might not, Dora’d always said.

The other workers seem somewhat suspicious of the newcomer so Scilla keeps her distance, but one young man seems friendly. Right from the beginning, to her absolute amazement, he helps her with her tasks. He is a very charming and very good looking fellow and gradually, as readers, we watch on as Scilla falls in love with him - but is he really being honest with Scilla and does he have some other motive for the advice her gives Scilla. Also it is a huge worry the way he invites her to join in his dangerous nighttime adventures especially when they involve stealing precious fruit from Mr Layton who has shown her nothing but kindness. 

Over time Scilla learns more and more about gardens and the wonders of turning tiny seeds in to fragile plants which then eventually provide delicious and abundant produce for the big housel. Mr Layton seems to take her into his confidence showing her the winter stored fruits and allowing her to study books from is extensive collection. He also gives her a special role on the day Prince Albert visits the greenhouses. All of this is wonderful but also dangerous because Phin, that handsome young gardener, is desperately jealous of these attentions. He is sure he is the one who will one day also become a head gardener. 

Nuanced, richly atmospheric, and exquisitely written. Kirkus Star review

Blurb from the author page: The night that workhouse orphan Scilla Brown dares to climb the Earl of Havermore’s garden wall, she wants only to steal a peach—the best thing she’s tasted in her hard, hungry life. But when she’s caught by the earl’s head gardener and mistaken for a boy, she grabs on to something more: a temporary job scrubbing flowerpots. If she can just keep up her deception, she’ll have a soft bed and food beyond her wildest dreams . . . maybe even peaches. She soon falls in with Phin, a garden apprentice who sneaks her into the steamy, fruit-filled greenhouses, calls her “Brownie,” and makes her skin prickle. At the same time, the gruff head gardener himself is teaching lowly Scilla to make things grow, and she’s cultivating hope with every seed she plants. But as the seasons unfurl, her loyalties become divided, and her secret grows harder to keep. How far will she go to have a home at last?

Here are some key quotes from The Peach Thief - the first ones are words that Scilla luckily remembers when she is in the worse position of her life accused of a series of crimes she did not commit. 

“An honorable man takes responsibility for his actions, you understand, no matter the consequences."

"You have to care about each plant ... the life and beauty in it. You have to give it what it needs to reach its full potential."

"It is our curiosity that leads us to new discoveries, to new opportunities, to what we most need to learn."

You can read some background to this story here. And Candlewick gives you the first seven chapters to sample on their webpage. There are some fun words in this book such as meddling fussock; as wick as the woods; gawped; summat; and Lorjus.

If you are looking for a character description to use as a writing model this one is great:

"The cook, Mrs Keckilpenny, was round as a teapot. Her skirts rose in the back each time she bent to check the black range at the front end of the low-ceilinged room, revealing red-and-black-striped stockings above her high-topped clogs. Her frilled cap, tied beneath her double chin, looked like a crimped crust around a great pink pie."

I had no idea there were so many varieties of peaches (back notes in The Peach Thief tells me there are 95) with beautiful names such as Royal George, Grosse Mignonne, Bellegarde. And the apples have names such as Ribston Pippins and Gravenstein. You will also read about the lengths these early gardeners went to, to grow exotic fruits like pineapples. 

Here in Australia you will have to be patient and wait to add this book to your library. The US edition published by Candlewick is way too expensive at over AUS$45+ but what I hope might happen is the book will be taken up by Walker Books in the UK and their copy will then come to Walker Books here in Australia and the price will come down. How this happens is a mystery to me, but I have seen this pattern with many other middle grade titles. The publisher says this book is for ages 8-12 but I think the love tensions, age of the protagonist and complex relationships mean it would be a better fit for ages 11+ and certainly a great read for younger High School readers. I absolutely adored this book from beginning to end. 

The Peach Thief is a debut novel for Linda Joan Smith. She has worked as a journalist specialising in writing about gardening. She mentions loving The Secret Garden as a child. 

Here are some of her favourite books that transport readers to other times and places - what a fabulous list:

• A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park
• Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
• Chains (and The Seeds of America Trilogy) by Laurie Halse Anderson
• Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan
• Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
• Hello Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly
• Holes by Louis Sachar
• Okay for Now and The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt
• Simon Sort of Says by Erin Bow
• The Book Thief  by Markus Zusak
• The London Eye Mystery and The Bog Child by Siobhan Dowd
• The Midwife’s Apprentice by Karen Cushman
• When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
• Wringer by Jerry Spinelli

In the Garden with Flori by Sonja Danowski translated by Marshall Yarbrough

Young readers will gasp - there is a moment in this book when Linn makes a terrible mistake. Her grandfather has had an accident, and he is in hospital. Linn offers to care for his precious greenhouse garden. There is a hint in these words:

"Inside, in the greenhouse, Grandpa grew flowers and vegetables ... because they were inside, the delicate plants were protected from pests and bad weather."

Linn has taken her dog Flori to help with the garden but Flori is more interested in digging. He finds a way to dig under the wall of the greenhouse and escape into the garden. This means that something from outside can come in but Linn does not know this. When she arrives at the garden the next day it has been decimated by snails!

How can Linn tell her grandfather? He will be so disappointed. In the illustration above you can see part of the solution. Linn's friend Emi loves to paint. She paints a set of pictures showing the way the garden should look. Of course Linn still has to confess about the snails but luckily there is a happy ending because the digging by Flori has unearthed Grandpa's precious old watch that he thought was lost forever. 

The last two pages of this book give readers some facts about snails. See inside this book here. 

Young readers are sure to be fascinated by all the flower names mentioned in this book - marigolds, lupis dahlias, bellflowers, hostas, along with vegetables such as squash and kohlrabi. 

The German title of this book is Im Garten mit Flori.

I met Sonja Danowski at a USBBY conference and ever since that time I have had several of her books on my wish list. Last week I decided to purchase a few books from my lists and one of them was this book which I so happy to add to my own bookshelves. I previously talked about Little Night Cat.

My Baba's Garden by Jordan Scott illustrated by Sydney Smith

A quiet, tender, and profoundly moving celebration 

of intergenerational love. Kirkus Star review

"My Baba, my grandmother, was born in Poland, where she and her family suffered greatly during World War II. After the war she emigrated to Canada ... with my Dziadek (grandfather) (but) .... by the time I arrived in the world, my Dziadek had passed away. ... She didn't speak English very well, so much of the time we communicated through gesture, touch and laughter."

Baba is a terrific cook, and she has filled her kitchen and small 'chicken coop' home with food stored in jars and hanging from an assortment of places. Baba also knows worms are essential for the soil. They dig and increase water and air that get into the soil and also provide nutrients. She adds the worms to her the soil around her tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots and the apple tree.

"I am a grown man now and (I) still pick up worms. My children do too. My Baba would be proud." 

This book is written from the heart - Baba is Jordan Scott's grandmother. He did indeed spend many happy hours with her when he was a small child. His observations and memories add a gentle layer of honesty to this story - read this quote:

"and there she is, hidden in the steam of boiling potatoes, dancing between the sink, fridge and stove. A hand holding a beetroot, a leg opening a cupboard, an elbow closing the fridge door."

Jordan and his grandmother care for her small garden but then Baba moves in with Jordan's family. She is growing old and frail and now it is his turn to bring her breakfast. When Jordan plants some cherry tomato seeds into a pot on her windowsill she reminds him to collect those all-important worms. And luckily is raining - so it is the perfect time. 

I think this book especially touched me because I also spent time with my precious grandmother and I hold all those memories of our time together in her tiny old flat very close to my heart. 

When you read this book don't rush past the title page (you can see the boy climbing into his dad's car just before dawn). And then on the imprint page we see them driving through the traffic again just before dawn. See inside Baba's Garden here. And Let's talk Picture Books have filmed the jacket reveal - WOW that's so special. Or you could try this link. 

I read a US review and they used the word oatmeal but the Canadian and Australian editions of this book use the word porridge. I shake my head in wonder that the US editor needed to make this change.

Sydney Smith is the 2024 winner of the Hans Christian Andersen Award. I really hope he will be at the IBBY Congress in 2024 which will be held in Ottawa. I plan to be there (from Australia).

Awards for Baba's Garden:

• A Charlotte Zolotow Honor Book
• A New York Public Library Best Book of the Year
• A Kirkus Reviews Best Picture Book of the Year
• A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year
• A Horn Book Fanfare Book
• A Booklist Editors’ Choice
• A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
• An Evanston Public Library Great Book for Kids

Sydney Smith’s evocative images, dwelling on the domestic riches and warmth of Baba’s chicken coop home, and the luxuriant garden that she – and the worms – have created, perfectly complement the simply told story of the boy’s memories of his time with his grandmother. In sketchy prose, Jordan Scott conjures a lively active woman, singing to herself in her own language, absorbed in cooking and preserving the food she has grown, and preparing it for the young boy that she cares for. This beautiful book – beautiful in its illustrations, its language and its tribute to a resilient woman ... Just Imagine

Looking at the illustrations in My Baba’s Garden, I feel I’ve entered her home and should whisper as I read this book. Sydney’s loose watercolor helps us see these memories through sometimes teary eyes or when the sun comes through a window and causes you to squint a bit. His expert use of lighting is dramatic and impactful, and so beautiful. In every scene, the light is like a friend, welcoming. Only Picture Books.

Jordan Scott and Sydney Smith have another picture book written together:

Read my previous post about Sydney Smith. And here is his webpage. Here you can see a photo of Baba and a very young Jordan. 

Footpath Flowers

Of course Baba's Graden is about intergenerational relationships, grandmothers, wisdom, growing old, love and care of family but if you are curious about worms and gardens try to find this book - it takes a fun look at worms for a preschool audience.

Here is the Storylinks review

This is a new book published in 2024 and it would be a good addition to a preschool. 

It has very vibrant illustrations and a fact page about worms at the back.

Grow by Riz Reyes illustrated by Sara Boccaccini Meadows

"Each chapter of this book celebrates the heroic efforts of a few plants heroes that have sustained our communities and shaped many cultures around the world. ... Hopefully children will uncover their own botanical heroes through reading this book ... "

Mint; Lettuce; Mushrooms; Daffodils; Pineapples; Tomatoes; Apples; Kale; Carrots; Aloe Vera; Tea Plants; Maple; Bamboo; Pumpkins; Orchids.

Though the book is non-fiction, Reyes lets a kind of horticultural narrative play out as we journey through its pages.  We learn about the different plants in history – when and where they originated and how they were used – as well as the various families that each plant belongs to, describing some of the other related plants in each group.  Most importantly of all, we learn how to plant and grow each one – what time of year to plant, how to care for them and how to help them flourish. Reading Time

Here are a few of my discoveries from this book:

• Mint is named after a nymph from Greek mythology - Minthe
• Lettuce is a member of the Asteraceae family - others are chrysanthemum, dandelion, and sunflower.
• Daffodils are used as a symbol for many cancer organisations because they are a sign of hope.
• Pineapples are pollinated in the wild by bats and hummingbirds.
• Botanists consider that the tomato is a berry because it has seeds and pulp and comes from the ovary of a single flower.
• Apple cores were dropped by traders along the Silk Road and so the seeds grew into apple trees.
• Kale is related to kohlrabi, broccoli, and cauliflower.
• Kublai Khan bought carrots to China in the thirteenth century. You need to know I, your blogger at Momotimetoread, does not like carrot cake!
• Maple syrup is made from tree sap and the maple tree is from the same family as the lychdee, horse chestnut, and Indian soapberry.
• All pumpkins are squashes but not all squashes are pumpkins.
• The Phalaenopsis orchid is also known as the moth orchid because a naturalist mistook the flowers for moths in 1750.

Riz Reyes is a hortoculturalist and that knowledge and passion shines through in this book.  Sara Boccaccini Meadows (perfect name to illustrate a book about plants) also has a book about the stars but sadly here in Australia Glow is way too expensive for a school library. It would make a beautiful gift though, as would Grow, for a special child or on a special occasion:

Meet the illustrator Gerda Muller

 

Gerda Muller was born in 1926 in Naarden, the Netherlands. She studied at the Fine Arts School of Amsterdam and École Estienne of Paris. Gerda has illustrated over 120 books for children, many of which have been translated worldwide. Her book A Year in our New Garden appeared on the USBBY Outstanding International Books list. Gerda Muller lives in France.

Gerda Muller works across a wide variety of mediums and uses diverse techniques when illustrating. For precise line work, she typically works with black and sepia pen, using watercolours to add colour and detail. Her picture book illustrations have also made use of coloured pencils, oils, lithography and more recently, pastels.  Gerda Muller is known for her love of nature and natural scenes. Her illustrations are vibrant, detailed, and reflect the changing seasons and landscapes. Floris Books

Illustration from The Wildwood Elves

The lives of her subjects seem slower, more deliberate, and more joyful than do those of some of us in the modern world, as they happily progress through the seasons caressing baby animals, splashing in the sea, gatherin acorns, and catching snowflakes on their tongues. Monadock Mamma

On a snowy winter's morning, footprints trace a path from a child's unmade bed, past discarded clothes and breakfast dishes to the front door where they're joined by excited pawprints. But who else is making the footprints and what are they doing? In this delightful wordless picture book, the story of a child and a dog enjoying the snow is told entirely through following their footprints.

Oscar's Tower of Flowers by Lauren Tobia

The pain of parting is nothing to the joy of meeting again - Charles Dickens

On the opening end paper we are given a cross section view of a city apartment building. A lady in a yellow sweater is waving to someone in the street below. On the title page mum has some luggage and her young son is pressing the buttons in the lift. In a set of small frames mum greets the lady in the yellow sweater. Lauren Tobia (illustrator of the Anna Hibiscus books) explains on her web page that this lady is Nana. Please don't turn to the back end papers until you have read the whole book then the wonderful surprise will be sure to delight you.

Blurb: Oscar’s mum has to go away for a little while, so Oscar is staying with his nana. He likes being with Nana in her apartment building, but he still misses his mum. One day, Nana has an idea, and together they carefully sow seeds—lots and lots of seeds! They water them and wait . . . and then the seeds start to grow and the flowers begin to bloom and there are plants everywhere. Luckily Oscar has a great idea for what they can do with the blossoms—share them! This brightly illustrated wordless picture book is full of graphic panels and sweeping spreads that evoke the urban bustle of a busy high-rise apartment and shows how each person can contribute to the spirit and vitality of a community.

Do you have a collection of wordless or textless (IBBY call them Silent Books) in your library? This one is quite perfect and will be enjoyed by your youngest students. You should also look at this book if you need titles for your preschool book collection or library. 

Warm and wonderful. Kirkus Star review

It’s an emotionally resonant story that will speak, in particular, to any child who has had to temporarily say goodbye to a caretaker. Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

Share this warmhearted story with any preschooler experiencing separation from a loved one. Horn Book

The illustrations, a combination of graphic panels and spreads, take readers step-by-step through the simple story. The artwork is bright, expressive, and detailed. Emotion is expertly conveyed through facial expression and body language, and some parts of the story really tug on the heart, such as Oscar and Mum’s painful farewell and Oscar lying awake at night. Reading Time

Oscar's Tower of Flowers is a perfect book to add to your collection of stories about greening the community and the joy of watching tiny seeds turn in to glorious plants. It is also the first book I have ever seen where mum leaves for an extended period (we don't know why) and a young child is cared for by another family member for longer than a day.  Here are a few others books about gardens and greening the community. Type the titles into my search bar:

A Year in Fleurville by Felicita Sala

Recipes from balconies, rooftops and gardens.

In spring the people in Fleurville grow asparagus and then they make a delicious asparagus quiche. In Summer the cherries are ripe - time for a cherry clafoutis. High above the city peppers grow on a rooftop garden - perfect for those stuffed peppers. Now it is autumn and the pears are ripe. How about a plate of pear and ricotta pancakes.

My favourite pages in this scrumptious book come near the end where we see assorted seeds, gardening tools and a double spread of vibrant fruit and vegetables groups by seasons. 

Image source: Scribble Kids Books

A Year in Fleurville is the companion volume to Lunch at Pomegranate Street. These are two books that should be in every school library collection and I think they would be wonderful to also have in your home library collection. Read some review comments here. There are so many benefits that come from cooking with your child and even more joy if the cooking involves produce from your own garden - large or small. 

I love the illustrations in this book by Felicita Sala. She says "the illustrations in this book are made with watercolours, gouache and coloured pencils (with) hand lettering."

Here are some other books by Felicita: